2A Girls Tennis: Centralia, W.F. West Each Send Duo to State

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TUMWATER — The second day of the District 4 2A Girls Tennis Tournament passed on Thursday, and only two local doubles teams remained to proceed to the state tournament. Hayden Blaser and Jaycee Foster won their way to the tournament, and the duo of Isabel Vander Stoep and Kyla Richards did enough work on Day 1 to punch their ticket onward.

W.F. West's Payton Rothlin participated in a loser-out singles match but was eliminated by Tumwater's Nicole Howard, the No. 1 seed in the Evergreen 2A Conference, 6-4, 6-3.

"I just can't say enough about how Payton played and competed," W.F. West coach Jack State said. "You could see her get better and better every day. With another week of practicing singles, I think she would have beat her."

Vander Stoep and Richards faced off against Ridgefield's Sarah Kaufman and Sophie Bird and were defeated, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to earn second place honors and a trip to state.

"I thought that we were not as sharp as the day before," State said. "We just seemed a little bit tight and didn't play as well as I think we are capable of, but the girls achieved their goal of making it to state. Now their goal is to place."

As for Centralia, two doubles teams started Day 2, but only one remained at the end. Sydney Creel and Hannah Jeffries started off with a win against Washougal's Haley Briggs and Sami Anderson by a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.



"I think that's one of the best games I've seen them play," Centralia coach Deb Keahey said. "They were just excellent."

Blaser and Foster scored a victory against Nala Comstock and Avery Honaker from Hudson's Bay, 6-0, 6-2, setting the table for a matchup between the two Centralia duos.

In the end, Blaser and Foster persevered, defeating Creel and Jeffries, 6-4, 6-1 to earn third place in the tournament and a state berth, leaving Creel and Jeffries with fourth place and an alternate spot in the tourney.

"That was tough to watch," Keahey said. "Overall, I'm just really proud of our girls. It's one of those things where I would've loved to send both teams to state, but this was a great experience that I think all will benefit from."

Centralia took second place in the district tournament as a team. The State 2A Girls Tennis Tournament will begin on Friday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center at the University of Washington.